Try Something New: Boza

"Try Something New" is back. It may not be quite as exciting as our Try Something New: SE Asia Edition, but Bulgaria may have a few surprises up its sleeve for our taste buds and sense of adventure. We regularly think we know how things are going to go here in Bulgaria because we lived in its cousin country for 9 years. Same cultures, similar language, same cuisine... or so we thought. There are far more differences between the two than I ever realized and why wouldn't there be? I mean, why would anything be easy?! No. Not when God still has so much to teach us, so many more ways to humble us. So instead of getting frustrated, we've decided to embrace it.

For starters: BOZA! Not bozO. Boza. We have tried boza in Macedonia before, and well, we were far from impressed--like exercising our gag reflux not impressed. But we heard that Bulgarian boza is different. It is thicker and sweeter, but still, it's a fermented wheat drink.... Your mouth is watering now, isn't it?!

So to truly embrace our host country's cuisine and have a little family fun, we decided to pour a glass, and toast to new adventures. Watch the video to see reactions. 

Isaiah's reaction is my favorite and may or may not mimic my own. Poor kid. I think he really thought it was chocolate milk. Kate said she liked it on camera. So once the camera was turned off, I called her bluff and told her to go ahead and finish her cup off and I would pour her some more. That's when the truth came out. We may not be the biggest fans, but we definitely had a great time trying something new. 

Cheers! 

Here is a link with more info on boza, and if you really want to try it for yourself, come on over and we'll film your reaction to this fermented yeast drink. 

Try Something New - Hairy Fruit

Peaches are fuzzy. Apples are waxy. Cantaloupes are rough. Watermelons are hard. But this...

 This prickly, spiney fruit looks kind of like a bald man with hair plugs.

Rambutan. 

I found it pretty funny that when I googled it, wikipedia informed me that in Malay-Indonesian cultures it is called rambut which means "hair." And in Vietnam it's called chomchom which means "messy hair." See, I wasn't too far off when I compared it to a bald man's hair plugs. Messy hair fruit. Yes!

It's not a fruit I would think anyone would ever even attempt to eat. But here, it is in season and for sell by the truck-load. So we picked some up. It's been a while since we have done an official "try something new." So this looked like it would be a great way to get back into the swing of things. I pulled off on the side of the road and bought a bag full. I probably shouldn't have bought a whole bag full, but for all I knew we may have been on the edge of striking tasty fruity gold. 

Kate examined it thoroughly for us, and Brian chopped into it.

The inside is kind of squishy, like a juicy stress ball. 

It was after Isaiah shoved the whole squishy middle into his mouth that we realized there is a pit. So we had to sweep it out of his chubby cheeks. 

Thomas decided he wasn't a fan. I think the final vote was 5-0, the winning vote deciding that we did not strike fruity delicious gold. Oh well. It really wasn't bad, but for now we're gonna stick with bananas and apples as our go-to fruits. We enjoyed our hairy fruit adventure.

Our try something new endeavors have fallen flat too many times. But maybe next time we will find something we just can't live without. I hear rotee is amazing. We'll see...

Try Something New Tuesday

I've decided to make an effort every week, together with my kids (if it's not life threatening), to try something completely new and then share it with you. We're gonna call it "Try Something New Tuesday," but some weeks it may be "Try Something New Tuesday... on a Friday" because life is crazy and next Tuesday I may just want to eat my stash of American peanut butter out of the jar and roll my eyes at all of this new stuff. So dear Type A people-- those of you who pointed out I needed to change the name of the blog 17 times, I love you. You make the world go 'round, and I really want to do this every Tuesday for you, but let's just all learn to be flexible together.

We're starting light today. No cow uterus for at least a few months. 

The Dragon Fruit.

I didn't even know what this little beauty was called. For those of you who did know what it was, you are geniuses and you should go on Jeopardy. The kids and I grabbed the computer, a knife and cutting board and then did a little research to see what it is and how it is eaten.   

We chopped this baby open and lookie there. It's just so pretty with lots of little black seeds kind of like a kiwi fruit.

I wish we could say that we loved its taste as much as we loved its bright red color. It's not horrible, but we are not huge dragon fruit fans. We are, however, fans of all the healthy goodness packed into one of these things. So we may be mixing it into some fruit salads or dousing it in chocolate so that we can enjoy its healthy benefits.

What have you tried that is new and out of the box lately?

Favorites: Breakfast Foods

Today's favorite things is brought to you, in part, by Grease and Carbs. 

Gjomleeze - Oil, Flour, Salt. Thin salty crepe-like layers that are cooked over a wood fire. It's an art, really.  The flavors are about as simple as they come, but the crispy outside paired with the greasy gooey inside, delicious! Macedonians normally eat it for breakfast. And if Brian is out before breakfast, you can bet he is grabbing one of these from one of the outside vendors. 

Years ago, we helped some friends make a pan, and it took hours! 

In the big round pan, on a wood burning outdoor stove, one of the first layers got going. And of course, there was some Turkish coffee (boiling in the blue pot) to get things started right.

And while you're waiting on it to cook, why not bust out the accordion and the drum for a little jam session?!

It certainly is worth the wait and all the work.  

The little bake shops around town are also a favorite. They are about as common as the mini-markets. Fresh baked breads of all sorts fill their shelves. Some pastries are filled with ham and cheese. Some feta-like cheese. Some are filled with sour cream. Some pepperoni, cheese, mushrooms and pizza sauce. Some spinach, and some are plain with just sesame seeds sprinkled on top.  And of course there are a few sweet ones filled with Nutella, apples or cherries. And my personal favorite, the Virshla--the hot dog wrapped in delicious dough and baked to gooey perfection. It's the ultimate pig-in-a-blanket. Yum. 

And then there is the breakfast of champions: BUREK. The far window is full of fresh-baked burek. Burek comes in several different varieties, too.  There is burek with ground meat, burek with feta-like cheese, burek with spinach, and even, pizza burek. We normally stick with the feta or meat filled one.   Pizza burek is a little too exotic for our taste.

In our almost nine years here, this is the first time I have ever had burek in a packet. They normally serve it on a plate with a fork and knife.  

Look at that cheese! Yum! 

Kate and I could only eat about half of it. It's massive and so full of grease that your arteries start hurting about half-way through. But it sure is delicious.

Here, breakfast foods mean lots of oil. And who doesn't need a little grease to start their day?!

We plan on enjoying these favorite things to the utmost the next month, and after that, we will start our detox diet.

A Macedonian Taste of Fall

Some of you, ok one of you (but I know more of you are dying to know), asked what the picture of the jar of ajvar was that I put on fb.  Ajvar is the taste of Macedonia in the fall.  It is what you smell as you turn every corner around town.  Smoke billows from giant wood burning outdoor stoves as the Macedonians char their crops of red peppers on it. Kilos and kilos of red peppers are seared on all sides. Then they peel the peppers, grind the peppers and throw the peppers in a big pot to boil with some seasonings. And then you get ajvar--jars and jars of ajvar that are made in nearly every home to eat all throughout the winter months. 

This stuff! with some white feta-like cheese, called sirenje, as it's accompaniment. So SO YUM!

It's a staple in every Macedonian diet. And I guess like some in America would judge the arrival of fall by the pumpkin spice latte's return, it's not fall in Macedonia until red peppers are roasted and boiled down into this yummy paste. And while I don't love everyone's ajvar, our neighbor makes what I am sure to be the best ajvar in the country. Slather a big scoop of it on some bread--not WonderBread, but real actual fresh baked bread that will go bad if you don't eat in 24 hours, cut a piece of fresh sirenje, and you have a traditional Macedonian meal that is magically delicious!

And for a little TBT (throw-back Thursday) here are some more blogs on the deliciousness of ajvar and how it's made and Macedonia in the fall. Enjoy a pumpkin spice latte for me while you read about our little Macedonian world in the fall.

Cabbage and Beans

Winter time is rough when it comes to finding yummy produce. We have a pretty good selection of mandarins this time of year and when you can get over 2lbs for less than a dollar who can complain. But even the sweet delicious mandarin season comes and goes quickly. Apples come and go. Kiwis come and go, and the selection of veggies is even slimmer.  However the one thing you can always find through the whole winter is cabbage.  It is the one thing you will find on almost every person's table every single day. Cabbage will show out in any way possible. Sometimes it is smothered in oil and vinegar and mass amounts of salt and served as a salad, other times it is brined and then wrapped around meat and rice (sarma), and then others it is cut up and thrown into something like a casserole.  I have grown to love cabbage since I have been here.  I eat it in all of those ways and sometimes I saute it in a little soy sauce and serve with rice. Delicious!!! And cabbage salad with some apples thrown in is really yummy too.  Good thing cabbage is full of nutrients and my kids love it.  

Another thing that is common on the Macedonian's table is white beans.  I have only ever had white beans fixed one way here. They call it "Tavche Gravche" and it is delicious. They boil the beans and once they are soft, they put in all of the seasonings, throw them in a ceramic casserole dish, put some sausage (if they have any) on top and bake it until it is all bubbly.  It really is good.  Gravche is something I have started making at home as my man and my babies seem to really like it.  Plus it is super cheap.  You can see my gravche pictured below, and you can find a recipe for making your own here.

So make some cabbage salad and tavche gravche and pray that the Macedonian people will know their Provider as Savior and Lord.

Russian Salad

Russian Salad is one of the many things that are sitting on a coffee table when you go over to someone's home for the holidays.  Russian salad is a super yummy mayonaisey salad that I personally love. I was asked to make some for a get together with the church here.  I documented a little bit of the process:

I said a little of the process...

Here is a recipe if you are interested:

1/2 lb. chopped ham
1/2 lb. chopped cheddar cheese
1-2 bags of frozen mixed veggies including peas, carrots, and potatoes
chopped boiled eggs (optional)
6-7 chopped dill pickles
a little pickle juice
mayonnaise to coat everything
mustard to taste (optional)
1 tsp. dried dill (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together. Chill for 1-2 hours and serve.

An interesting fact: Russians don't actually call this salad Russian salad.  Only people living outside of Russia call it that. Either way, it's yummy. Use it in place of your potato salad and pray for the people of Macedonia.